North American Coal

The North American Coal Corporation, a subsidiary of NACCO Industries (NYSE: NC), mines lignite coal, primarily as fuel for power generation. (Lignite coal, or "brown coal," has a lower energy content than bituminous coal, and burning lignite produces higher carbon emissions.) Based in Dallas, Texas, the company currently has operations in North Dakota, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, and provides dragline mining services for independently owned limerock quarries in Florida.

Mining Operations
North American Coal mined 31.2 million tons of coal in 2006, making it the 7th largest U.S. coal producer (2.7% of total coal production), and the largest U.S. lignite coal producer. It currently operates the following mines: In 2007, North American Coal controlled approximately 2.3 billion tons of coal reserves. As of 2005, North American Coal and its subsidiaries did not own any coal-fired power plants in the U.S.
 * Caddo Creek Mine - Hallsville, TX
 * Camino Real Mine - Texas
 * Demery Mine - Coushatta, LA
 * Falkirk Mine near Underwood, ND (7 million tons/year)
 * Freedom Mine in Beulah, ND (16 million tons/year)
 * Red Hills Mine in Ackerman, MS (3.5 million tons/year)
 * Red River Mine in Coushatta, LA (700,000 tons/year)
 * Sabine Mine in Hallsville, TX (4 million tons/year)
 * San Miguel Mine near Christine, TX (3.5 million tons/year)
 * South Hallsville No 1 Mine in Hallsville, TX

Corporate Earnings
In 2007, North American Coal reported total operating revenues of $137.1 million, and profits of $31.0 million. NACCO Industries, North American Coal’s parent company, reported total revenues of $3.6 billion in 2007, and profits of $137 million, or $10.80 per share. In 2007, NACCO Industries was the 591st biggest corporation in the U.S. The President and CEO of North American Coal is Robert Benson; his full compensation is unreported, since North American Coal is a subsidiary.

American Lignite Energy Coal-to-Liquids Project
Together with Headwaters Inc. and Great River Energy, North American Coal is currently moving ahead with plans to build the 30,000 barrels/day American Lignite Energy coal-to-liquids plant, which would produce diesel and jet fuel from lignite coal. Project sponsors are waiting to see whether or not government subsidies will become available in order to make final financing decisions about the plant. This project would be North American Coal’s first foray into coal-to-liquids, and would be among the first coal-to-liquids projects in the U.S. The estimated total cost of the project is $2 billion.

Contact Details
The North American Coal Corporation 14785 Preston Road, Suite 1100 Dallas, Texas 75254-7891 USA Phone: 972.239.2625 Fax: 972.387.1328 NA Coal Website: http://www.nacoal.com/ NACCO Website: http://www.nacco.com/

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * American Lignite Energy
 * North Dakota and coal
 * U.S. coal politics